FEIT For Your Right!

Australian footwear designer Tull Price on his hand-made leather creations

With countless shoe brands putting new models out on the market as if their lives depended on it, it's refreshing to encounter labels that actually put a value on the actual design and manufacturing process of their products. 'Quality over quantity', I believe is the term you were looking for! Australian footwear brand FEIT (pronounced fight) does exactly just that. Carefully sculpting each leather shoe in their factory, Tull Price - the man behind the six year old company - has put in practice a ordering system where loyal customers on the FEIT data base receives info on the latest models and can put in an order... four months later your shoes are delivered...

Dazed Digital: What's the story behind FEIT, when and why did you start it?Tull Price: FEIT was founded in 2005 as a response to a mass produced, bottom line driven industry. An industry disconnected from the traditional art of shoe making. FEIT is a small team of shoemakers trained in the art of traditional shoe making, coupled with some of the finest tanneries in the world. All FEIT shoes are made by hand. In 2010 we opened up our factory and its services directly to our individual customers and retailers throughout the world via our online platform...

DD: Where does the name come from?Tull Price: The name FEIT is a reaction to the mass market, over saturated nature of not only the footwear industry, but capitalism on the whole

DD: The fact that FEIT are handmade is a big deal, can you sum up in a sentence what it is with the FEIT process that is unique?Tull Price: Basically we utilise and modify traditional hand made constructions, usually used in dress shoes and combine them with proven natural materials and to maximise comfort, durability and appeal.

DD: You suggest we wear these bare foot… how come, most leather shoes are not ideal for that! Tull Price: The leathers we use are minimally treated with only natural dyes. This ensures the skin remains close to its natural state and breathes on your foot as it does in nature.

DD: Tell me about the ordering system on your website, how does that work?Tull Price: We have a pre-order system whereby our members can order a shoe before we make it for a special pre order price. Each month we email images of our newest samples to our members who can purchase a pair. Each sample is subject to "maximum capacity" - the maximum number of shoes that can be made based on our material stock levels . This number varies between 20 and 100 pairs per style. If members respond well to the style but capacity remains, the remaining capacity is made available to the general public.